Darling of the Capitol
by TheFantasyForum
Summary: AU The Capitol won the rebellion and took away everything Katniss Everdeen held dear, including her daughter. While Payton Snow is having the time of her life in the Capitol, a second rebellion is brewing. Brought up to hate her parents, Payton is only going to get hurt along the way when Katniss decides to be the mother to the girl who was taken away.


She couldn't tell you what day it was or if it was winter or spring. She didn't care if it was night or day; sunny or cloudy; cold or warm. It had been several years since she had stopped caring; since she had watched the leaves change colors, the first snowflake fall, and the flowers bloom. She had not seen anywhere but her room in ten years. She barely registered who came in to set her food upon the wooden end table next to her bed every day.

Sometimes, if it was a good day, she would leave the warm, safe confines of her blankets and get out of bed. The days that she would get up, other than to use the bathroom facilities, were few and far between. Sometimes, she would open the vanity drawer, pull out a few pictures, and would just sit on the ground and cry. She would think about the moments that she was actually happy, remembering everyone she had lost.

She remembered her sweet little sister. Prim, whose eyes were the color of the sky and held such innocence. Her hair, the color of the Sun, and her compassion towards everyone she had met. Her little duck, her sister, the little girl she had saved, her light in the darkness, her Primrose Everdeen was gone and was never coming back. The girl that she had practically raised was torn from her protective arms, and was denied a second chance at life. How ironic, she would think. Prim saved lives with their mother, yet no one ever bothered to save her life. No one ever thought to keep her safe.

Prim was just another person to die in the failed rebellion against the Capitol. A wrongful death in a war that had only made everyone's lives more miserable than they already were. Nothing good came out of it, but isn't that the case in war? The loser gets nothing and the winner gets all the glory?

The Hunger Games were still running smoothly from year to year, with all distractions taken care of. Several new Victors emerged, although none of them were from District 12. She had already decided that she wasn't going to be a mentor, and thankfully no one ever questioned why. Haymitch had been dealing with two Tributes for several years, and she was no longer the darling of the Capitol. In all honesty they wanted her to disappear altogether, so they left her alone after they had taken everything away.

She would often think about her love, the boy with the bread. She didn't know what happened to him, only that one of the terms of the Capitol in order for them not to bomb District 12 and kill everyone in 13 was for Peeta to be taken away. She didn't know if he was dead or getting tortured. The only thing that she knew for certain was that she would probably never see him again.

The Capitol had also waited until she gave birth to their baby and took it from her before she had gotten to hold it or figure out its gender. It was true when Peeta announced her pregnancy at the Quarter Quell interview, although Peeta didn't know that at the time. She decided to tell him after the interview that it was real. She remembered his happiness and the joyful expression on his face. Even that was short lived, however.

It truly killed her to know that if she would have just done what Snow had asked of her, nothing would have happened. She would still have her sister, the love of her life, and her child. She could imagine her little family consisting of her, Prim, Peeta, and a little blonde hair blue eyed little boy. Prim might have well been her own daughter, and she couldn't imagine her leaving her to go to District 2 with their mother.

Sometimes she even thought about Gale. Leaving her was the biggest betrayal that she had ever felt. They were supposed to be best friends forever. She did nothing wrong. Perhaps he felt bad for not keeping Prim away from the fighting, and maybe he also felt bad because it could have been one of his dropped bombs that killed her. Neither option made the blow any less hard.

She rarely ever thought about her mother. Sometimes she thought about her when she wished that someone would come to comfort her, but then she would remember that her mother couldn't have helped her anyways. Still someone was better than no one, and she had been more alone than ever before.

Sometimes she would look up and see her bow and sheath sitting on a chair, dusty and unused. She hadn't hunted in over ten years, due to the fact that the electric fences were powered twenty four hours a day, and she had no ambition to go out in the woods alone.

Some said that Katniss had lost the will to live; others assumed that the Capitol had finally broken her. While The Girl on Fire was slowly extinguishing and her popularity within the Capitol had gone out entirely, a child was rising to fame. A child that was thought to be dead, was very much alive, and was raised to be a nieve Capitol girl.

O.o.O

The new darling of the Capitol was President Snow's granddaughter, Payton. She was the little girl crowning the Victors once they won The Hunger Games. Most of the people in the Districts didn't know that President Snow had a son let alone a granddaughter. Although only a few people knew that the child was in fact Katniss and Peeta's daughter, and she had absolutely no relation to President Snow.

Payton was like any other Capitol child. She was spoiled rotten and only had the best of everything. But she was also strong willed and anyone who was smart enough to see a resemblance would know that she was Katniss' daughter. She had long, wavy dark brown hair and if they would have found a baby picture from Katniss and lined it up next to Payton's, they would be nearly identical. The only thing different was she had Peeta's fair skin and his sky blue eyes.

Of course, like any person in the Capitol, she was absolutely enamored by The Hunger Games. By the time she was five, she had watched all eighty Hunger Games and was thrilled when she was finally old enough to participate in the parties and sponsorship deals. Her 'grandfather' had only encouraged her behavior more.

At six years old Snow was letting her crown the Victors, place things in the arena at the Gamemaker's table while the Games were going on, sponsor Tributes, and train in the Training Center. She absolutely loved it, like any child would. The twenty four Tribute's lives were in the hand of a girl, who didn't know that people actually died for real in the Games.

His motives were very simple: To corrupt Katniss' daughter. He knew eventually Katniss would find out and come for her, and when she did, she would find a little girl who was very happy with the life her mommy despised. Even if she never found out, he would die with the satisfaction of knowing that Katniss' daughter played a big role in the Games.

Although he did love Payton as if she really was his granddaughter. In all honesty Katniss should have been grateful. Her daughter would never have to go through a Reaping and she would be treated like royalty. President Snow viewed it as a blessing that Katniss didn't deserve, rather than a kidnapping of her child.

Ironically, the 74th Hunger Games were her favorite. She would watch in awe as Katniss, just a poor girl from District 12, fought for her life and defied the Capitol. Like everyone in the Capitol at the time, she believed in their star crossed lover disguise. Snow had even let her train in the old Quarter Quell Training Center in the Shooting Range, and she definitely had Katniss' talent.

One day when Payton and Snow were having tea she said, "I want someone to love me as much as Katniss loves Peeta."

President Snow started coughing as he choked on his tea. She stared at him with her innocent blue eyes and he smiled at her, "So you shall my darling."

When she was eight years old she asked, "Why doesn't Katniss and Peeta mentor?" She really wanted to meet them.

President Snow, sick of her idolizing them, told her the story of how Katniss started the rebellion and almost brought down the Capitol. That marked the end of her infatuation with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

Of course she didn't know the truth of who her parents were. Snow had told her that her father was the Head Peacekeeper at The Nut in District 2 and was killed when Katniss and the rebels invaded it and her mother was also killed in the rebellion. The only part that was actually a lie was that his son and daughter in law were her parents. He told her that it was a miracle that she was alive when a Peacekeeper found her under the rubble that was once her house.

Katniss Everdeen became the symbol of destruction and ruination in Payton's mind. She blamed her for killing her parents and almost destroying her beautiful Capitol. Ultimately that was Snow's goal.

As Payton lived the life of luxury, despising her mother who was withering away in District 12, her father was also breaking down in the room next store.

O.o.O

Peeta was kept in a dark room with no windows and only given his meals through a little slot in the door. There was a hard cot and a bathroom only. The shower and sink only streamed out freezing cold water, and the room was cold to begin with. There were no towels and no blankets. He rarely ever got an extra change of clothing or a roll of toilet paper when it was out.

Most days he screamed and pounded on the walls, but it was hopeless because no one ever listened to his pleas for help. He was lucky that someone brought food for him at least once a day.

He lost track of the time. He couldn't tell if it was day or night from the darkness and meal times were sporadic. What seemed like a hundred years was only a few days.

Finally after six years there was finally some light that came into his prison cell. It nearly blinded him, but when his eyes adjusted, the light came from a rectangular window in the wall. It wasn't a window to the outside, but a window to a little girl's room. The wall showed a picture of a castle with unicorns running past majestically. He figured that it was like the wall that changed pictures with the remote at the Tribute's living quarters. There was a king size four poster bed adorned in pink jewel encrusted sheets and a sitting area with expensive pink chairs and a large holographic television set. There were several doors leading to the room, which he could only assume led into a bathroom, a walk in closet, and maybe some kind of toy room. There were paintings on the opposite walls and a large bulletin board of pictures, although he couldn't tell who was actually in the pictures. There was a large book shelf and a set of french doors that led to a balcony overlooking President Snow's rose garden.

Several minutes later he heard the voice of the child who inhabited the room through two speakers that suddenly came out of the wall.

"Grandpa, I want to go to the party, too! I want to see Johanna again and the new Victor!" the Girl whined. "I think I should be able to congratulate the Victor I sponsored!"

President Snow and the girl came into Peeta's view. "You already did when you put the crown on top of Maple's head."

"Yes, but I didn't get a picture with her!"

President Snow smiled sinisterly at Peeta through the glass, "Pick out something suitable to wear, dear. There is a prep team already downstairs for you."

The girl smiled and hugged Snow, while looking straight into the window Peeta was looking through.

"Katniss?" Peeta whispered while the girl left the room. Snow came straight up to the window a smile at Peeta.

"My, my it has been a long time, Peeta. She can't see you, neither can I, but I know you are there watching. It's a one way window; this side is a mirror. She can't hear you, but you can hear her. Such a lovely little girl, isn't she?" He said pulling out a picture of the girl who was in the room. "Thankfully she doesn't have Katniss' stubbornness."

Peeta's blood ran cold. Snow had Katniss and his child.

"Well we have a party we should get to," Snow said and turned off the light.

Peeta was once again plunged into darkness. He cried and banged on the window for hours, until sleep overtook him.

O.o.O

It's sad really, how the Capitol could do such a thing. They forced Katniss into a miserable, lonely life and forced Peeta to watch his daughter behind a twelve inch thick wall of glass. They made their child into an ignorant Capitol citizen. They made her think gambling lives was fun.

But Katniss begged for her child to be saved. They only did what Katniss asked. They gave her daughter immunity from The Hunger Games, but they also gave her the power to decide who perished and who came home a champion.

Peeta wasn't happy with his daughter's lifestyle, and if Katniss knew she was alive, she wouldn't be happy either.

What would Payton think if this secret had suddenly been revealed?


End file.
